Officer, Artillerist · Confederate
Alfred Moore Rhett
1829 – ?
Colonel of the 1st South Carolina Artillery, and commander of Fort Sumter through the ironclad attack of 7 April 1863 and the first great bombardment.
The 1893 sketch in Confederate Veteran is a retrospective account written thirty years after the events and corroborated, it says, by Rhett's sister. Its dates for the bombardment are garbled in the scan and have not been repeated here; where it disagrees with Johnson's 1890 volume, Johnson has been followed.
Charleston
Rhett commanded Fort Sumter for the period in which it was still an artillery post — through Du Pont's ironclad attack of 7 April 1863, and through the sixteen days of the first great bombardment that ended his command on 4 September 1863. When the fort's guns were gone his regiment was wanted for the new batteries of the inner harbor, and he went with it. His headquarters after his promotion to brigade command were in the city, and he visited the fort nearly every day.
Life
The second child of Senator Robert Barnwell Rhett, born at Beaufort and a graduate of Harvard in July 1851. He was commissioned first lieutenant of Company I, Battalion South Carolina Artillery, on the last day of December 1860, and in April 1861 commanded the battery at Fort Moultrie that fired on Fort Sumter. His company was transferred into Sumter after the surrender and he was promoted captain.
At the ironclad attack of 7 April 1863 he ordered the regimental band to the ramparts to greet the squadron, and had the flags of the Confederacy, the State and the regiment raised and saluted. Beauregard's chief of staff wrote to Ripley on 27 August 1863 that in the annals of war no stouter defense was ever made. Rhett was afterwards promoted to a brigade command with his headquarters in Charleston, and was back in the harbor before it fell, commanding the inner line.
In the retreat through North Carolina he commanded Hardee's rear guard, and was taken prisoner at Averasboro after riding into a party of Federal cavalry he had mistaken for Hampton's men. He was carried to Fort Delaware and released in August 1865.
Service
- First LieutenantcommissionedCompany I, Battalion South Carolina Artillery, artillery · Confederate army31 December 1860 to April 1861Confederate Veteran 1893
- Captaincommissioned1st South Carolina Artillery, artillery · Confederate armyApril 1861 to 4 September 1863Fort SumterJohnson 1890 Confederate Veteran 1893
- Colonelcommissioned1st South Carolina Artillery, artillery · Confederate armyfrom September 1863Confederate Veteran 1893
Each rank is the rank held at the time described. A later promotion is shown only in its own dated entry.
Places
Commanded from Fort Sumter
1861 to 4 September 1863 · confirmed
Stationed at Fort Moultrie
12 April 1861 to 15 April 1861 · high confidence
Burial
Not yet documented.
What is established, and on whose authority
- probableBorn at Beaufort, South Carolina, 15 October 1829, the second child of Senator Robert Barnwell Rhett.Confederate Veteran 1893
- probableGraduated from Harvard University in July 1851.Confederate Veteran 1893
- probableCommissioned first lieutenant, Company I, Battalion South Carolina Artillery, 31 December 1860.Confederate Veteran 1893
- probableCommanded the Sumter Battery at Fort Moultrie, 12-15 April 1861.Confederate Veteran 1893
- verifiedCommanded Fort Sumter at the ironclad attack of 7 April 1863, and had the regimental band play on the ramparts as the squadron came up.Johnson 1890 Confederate Veteran 1893
- verifiedCommanded Fort Sumter until 4 September 1863.Johnson 1890
- probablePromoted to a brigade command, with his headquarters in Charleston, and visited Fort Sumter nearly every day.Confederate Veteran 1893
- probableTaken prisoner at Averasboro, carried to Fort Delaware, and released in August 1865.Confederate Veteran 1893
- not establishedDate and place of death.no source
Identity: verified. Last checked 31 August 2026.
Corrections to this record are welcome through the publisher.